tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post812761305326660130..comments2024-03-28T19:56:42.305-05:00Comments on Alexander Pruss's Blog: It is more than 2.588 times as important to avoid certainty about a falsehood than to have certainty about a truthAlexander R Prusshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05989277655934827117noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post-68542606212583164632012-06-28T08:16:36.373-05:002012-06-28T08:16:36.373-05:00The full paper is here.The full paper is <a href="http://www.logos-and-episteme.proiectsbc.ro/sites/default/files/THE%20BADNESS%20OF%20BEING%20CERTAIN%20OF%20A%20FALSEHOOD....pdf" rel="nofollow">here</a>.Alexander R Prusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05989277655934827117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post-83295961271484519942012-05-09T11:17:32.131-05:002012-05-09T11:17:32.131-05:00This result is the heart of a paper accepted by Lo...This result is the heart of a paper accepted by <em>Logos & Episteme</em>.Alexander R Prusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05989277655934827117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post-58166447605018566162011-11-02T14:04:18.542-05:002011-11-02T14:04:18.542-05:00Epistemic value is what I am thinking about here.
...Epistemic value is what I am thinking about here.<br /><br />I was thinking that credence 1/2 is something like maximal uncommittedness, and so we can assign a default value of 0 to it.Alexander R Prusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05989277655934827117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post-90080586030337323332011-11-02T12:34:32.141-05:002011-11-02T12:34:32.141-05:00Alex,
I find it hard to accept the value-related...Alex, <br /><br />I find it hard to accept the value-related assumptions without further explanation. First, nothing is said about what *kind* of value is in view. Is it epistemic value? Prudential value? Moral value? You might think these are all the same ultimately, but this is at least another controversial assumption. <br /><br />Second, I have trouble assigning values to V(1/2) and D(1/2) without knowing more about the circumstances under which a person holds the 1/2 credence. All I am told is that in the V(1/2) scenario, the proposition is true; and in the D(1/2) scenario it is false. Pretty much everyone I know in epistemology would ask for further information before they could pronounce on the relative values here, at least where we are talking about epistemic values. Some will want to hear about the etiology of the credence, others about the environment in which the credence was formed, others about the evidence the subject possessed, and so on.ryanbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08789439648575231732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post-69791731254218134782011-10-11T19:02:46.956-05:002011-10-11T19:02:46.956-05:00Lara Buchak tells me that what I call "stabil...Lara Buchak tells me that what I call "stability" is termed "propriety".Alexander R Prusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05989277655934827117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post-48727896890550698882011-10-10T21:51:56.258-05:002011-10-10T21:51:56.258-05:00It's really weird that there would be a number...It's really weird that there would be a number that could be attached to this.<br /><br />One thing I am not sure of is whether the assumption that V(1/2)=D(1/2)=0 is always reasonable. Suppose p is the claim that there is an external world. Then if p is true, the utility of credence 1/2 is negative--that's not the sort of proposition one should be on the fence about. But if p is false, there is no harm in credence 1/2--what you believe probably doesn't matter much if there is no external world--so D(1/2)=0. So in that case, V(1/2) < D(1/2).<br /><br />Without the V(1/2) = D(1/2) assumption, all I can show is something like: (D(1)-D(1/2))/(V(1)-V(1/2)) > 2.588. I am not sure this is very useful.Alexander R Prusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05989277655934827117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post-21016828367991249942011-10-10T10:50:35.932-05:002011-10-10T10:50:35.932-05:00This is like something straight out of the TV show...This is like something straight out of the TV show Numbers. Using math to fix ordinary life problems. :)Dan Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02835173769166916525noreply@blogger.com